Ranger Grow-Out Journals

[j.luetkemeyer]

Thanks for posting your information. I will be receiving my freedom rangers this week and raise my birds organically with organic feed. I will post my information as I have it available.

 

[frozen1]

thanks for the info! i have 25 now moved them outside at four weeks gets below freezing at night,and never over 50 at day, they are doing great. man what a great bird! this will not be the last time i grow out freedom ranger.

 

[j.luetkemeyer]

Forgot to ask if they are doing a lot of free ranging or if they stick around the feeders? I know the freedom rangers are good at free ranging but I'm curious if they are getting the growth just from feed or feed and forage.

 

[mike67909]

As soon as I move my tractor mine are investigating the new grass scratching around. They are still eating the feed as well.

 

[TimG]

j.luetkemeyer :

Forgot to ask if they are doing a lot of free ranging or if they stick around the feeders? I know the freedom rangers are good at free ranging but I'm curious if they are getting the growth just from feed or feed and forage.

Mine have been in the barn without access to forage, so all the growth is coming from feed.​

 

[TimG]

I've updated the weights at 6 weeks and one day (sorry I was a day late). When others start adding to the journal, I will ask that a bunch of the non-journal type entries in this thread be removed.

They put on an average of one pound each this week, growing from an average of 2 lb 7 oz to an average of 3 lb 7 oz. They did this on an average of 2.35 lbs of feed each.

I moved them from the barn to an outside run today after weighing them. There's not much shelter in the run and there is cold and rain in the forecast for the weekend, so I either build them more shelter tomorrow or move them back inside. (I want a separate run, so building a better shelter should win out over the ease of moving them inside.)

I started noticing a few larger, redder combs at about 5 weeks. I haven't tried, but think I could get a pretty accurate male/female count. Next week, I'll try to separate them before I weigh them and see what the difference is.

 

[TimG]

At seven weeks, I tried to separate them by sex before weighing. I think I have 9 males which average 4 lb 11.4 oz and 13 females which average 4 lb 7.8 oz. The males range from 71 to 80 oz and the females range from 60 to 75 oz. So, although they are spreading out a bit, not really a big difference between sexes. (All of this leaves out a 31 oz female outlier which still appears healthy.)

They put on about 20 pounds in the last week and ate about 80 pounds of feed. By far the worst feed conversion week so far. While I expect them to become less efficient as they age, two factors may also be contributing: they have been outside in a lean-to type shelter for the past week (after being in a barn for their first 6 weeks) and I switched to a larger feeder which appears to generate more spillage.

 

[pigfarmer]

Hi TimG..... pigfarmer here
All of 18 chix are still about.
I also, am keeping a journal (more for expenses). I have not weighed them, no scale appropriate.
What is your feeding program? Mine are on an open when wanted feeding.
Out of the 18 i got from you, I believe I have 4-6 hens, rest are roo's.
What are you using for a scale?

 

[TimG]

I bought a 35 lb postage scale on eBay for about $25 (including shipping). It's getting to be a little bit of a challenge to balance the chickens in a box on the scale.

My chicks have access to food 24/7, though they have no light at night and I don't think they eat in the dark.

I've let them out of their pen the last couple of days. They do wander a little bit, but gravitate back to the familiar before long.

 

[pigfarmer]

Thanx tim,
Mine are on the same schedule and lighting.
Thanx for the additional info.